The $10,000 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better championship was a brand new event for the 2017 World Series of Poker, but that didn’t make Bryce Yockey any less confident about taking it down.

“I told everyone before the event that I’m going to go out there and win it,” said Yockey. “I tried to make as many side bets as I could. It’s definitely a bucket list thing. I’ve always really wanted to win this one. This is my fifth final table and I had two previous ones in PLO eight-or-better, and I felt like I either blew it or got super unlucky both times. This one really feels good.”

The California native topped a rather large field of 207 for the specialty event, earning $511,147 of the nearly $2 million prize pool. It was also Yockey’s first career bracelet, coming just a couple weeks after he finished fifth in the Millionaire Maker event for $317,544.

Yockey overcame a final table that included two of the hottest players at this year’s WSOP in Ray Henson (7th) and Chris Ferguson (4th). Henson has cashed nine times this summer, including four final tables. As a result, he now sits in the lead for the WSOP Player of the Year race.

Ferguson, the 2000 main event champion and embattled former Full Tilt operator, has somehow managed to ignore the boos from the rail long enough to cash 12 times. The record is 13, set by Roland Israelashvili last year, although it should be noted that each year there are more events added to the schedule, and 15 percent of fields now finish in the money, up from 10 percent.

For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2017 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.

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